June 12, 2017 at
9:35 PM

With the 24th overall pick in the 2017 MLB First-Year Player Draft, the Red Sox have selected Tanner Houck, a right-handed pitcher from the University of Missouri. Houck has been rated as a consensus top-30 player in the draft, ranked 22nd by Baseball America, 20th by MLB.com, and 26th by Perfect Game.

Houck was previously selected in the 12th round of the 2014 draft by Toronto, but they could not sign him away from his commitment with the Missouri Tigers. At 6-foot-5, 215 pounds, he has the prototypical pitcher's build that the Red Sox tend to favor with amateur pitchers, though his low three-quarters arm slot limits his plane. His best pitch is a fastball that sits in the 90 to 94 range and has touched 98 with a natural sink that some scouts have rated a 70 per Baseball America. His secondaries lag behind the fastball, with a slider that flashes plus potential but can "get sweepy" per MLB.com, and a change-up that currently rates as fringy.

Houck pounds the strike zone consistently, posting fewer than 2.5 walks per nine innings during his time at Missouri. In 2017, Houck has 95 strikeouts and 24 walks, and has surrendered only five home runs on his way to a 3.33 ERA. He joins Max Scherzer, Aaron Crow, and Kyle Gibson as hurlers out of the University of Missouri to be selected in the first round.